The rumours linking Louis van Gaal with the Manchester United manager’s post will not go away. In fact, they only grow stronger.

A story from Holland this weekend claimed United had already agreed terms with the former Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss. And while the Premier League side later dismissed that suggestion, could they really let van Gaal slip through their fingers when he is one of the few world-class managers available to them this summer?

Only time will tell, but Dutch journalist Marcel van der Kraan has told BBC 5live that much has been going on behind the scenes in recent weeks.

In quotes later published by the Express, van der Kraan said of van Gaal, “He was approached two weeks ago by the Glazer family, but told them ‘you have that manager. I will not sit down and discuss my future at your club.’

“So a delegation from Manchester United went back and took action and made agreement with David Moyes first and subsequently they flew out to Portugal to meet van Gaal.”

Van der Kraan also claimed that Tottenham Hotspur had offered the Holland boss the Spurs’ reins earlier this season, but that he refused to do two jobs simultaneously.

“Van Gaal agreed (to defer talks with Spurs) then somewhere he was tipped off it would be handy to wait for an even bigger job.

“When he was tipped there could be an even bigger job he did hang on, fruitfully as Manchester United did ask him to have talks.”

The fact that van der Kraan writes for De Telegraaf – the newspaper that has published many of the recent van Gaal stories – means you can either accept what he says as fact or question if it is simply more speculation in a mountain of such things.

But with the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti all seemingly impossible targets – at least for now – van Gaal is a class act and a very viable option.

Vincent Ralph

After graduating with a degree in English Literature, Vincent completed a NCTJ-accredited qualification in newspaper and magazine journalism in 2005. Shortly after, in a somewhat leftfield move, he began working at a secondary school in Kent. After eight years – the last four of which were spent as Head of Sixth Form – he began to write full-time, combining his love of football with his passion for the written word.Alongside his work for HITC Sport, he also writes film reviews for HITC Lifestyle… along with the odd music interview when fate allows.